Posted on 09/01/2005 7:45:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin
NEW ORLEANS (AP) At the front of the line, the weary refugees waded through ankle-deep water, grabbed a bottle of water from state troopers and happily hopped on buses that would deliver them from the horrendous conditions of the Superdome.
At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics. Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy's dog, the child cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried.
The scene played out Thursday as the plodding procession out of the Superdome entered its second day. Refugees slowly began arriving by the busload at the Astrodome in Houston, where they got a shower, a hot meal and a cool place to sleep.
"I would rather have been in jail," Janice Jones said in obvious relief at being out of the dome. "I've been in there seven days and I haven't had a bath. They treated us like animals. Everybody is scared."
Miranda Jones, her daughter, was standing next to her, carrying her father's ashes -- the only thing they were able to save from her house before Hurricane Katrina blasted New Orleans.
An angry Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans' emergency operations, watched the slow exodus from the Superdome on Thursday morning and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency response was inadequate. The chaos at the nearby New Orleans Convention Center was considerably worse than the Superdome, with an angry mob growing increasingly violent and few options for refugees to leave the scene.
"This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control," Ebbert said. "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."
By early afternoon, a line of people a half-mile long snaked from the Superdome through the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel, then to where buses waited. State troopers, making every effort to be cheerful, handed out bottles of water and tried to keep families and groups together.
"I need three," a burly state trooper called out. "I need four."
At one point, the guards held up the line so a young teen at the front could go get her sister, farther back.
The situation in the back of the line was vastly different.
National Guardsmen stood side by side with rifles. Luggage, bags of clothes, pillows, blankets were strewn in the puddles.
After a teenager was taken away by police for fighting, Capt. John Pallerre of the Texas Air Force National Guard told the crowd on public address: "We can't have people fighting. I have kids here who are crying and frightened and can't find their parents. Be adults. We're going to get you out of here. It takes a while. I'm not god. If I was, you'd all be home with your family."
At one point a man held a tiny baby high over his head. A woman pointed to an elderly man in a wheelchair -- hoping to get the attention of National Guard troops who were taking the old and infirm to buses first.
A woman in tank top and shorts, her teeth chattering, was taken from the sea of people and into the line heading through a shopping mall and conference center and back out to buses waiting blocks from the dome. She cuddled her baby, who wore only a diaper.
The first buses left the Superdome late Wednesday, and officials in Texas said 2,000 people had already arrived at the Astrodome, some 350 miles away, by late morning Thursday. Besides the 25,000 or so hurricane refugees being brought to Houston, officials said another 25,000 would be taken to San Antonio and other locations.
The Astrodome's new residents will be issued passes that will let them leave and return as they please, something that wasn't permitted in New Orleans. Organizers also plan to find ways to help the refugees contact relatives.
Who knew?
What a jerk. He does nothing and then he complains that the Feds - who weren't even called in until late by his dysfunctional governor - didn't do his job for him? Gimme a break.
I couldn't agree more this is totally heartbreaking
I wonder what they are doing with the confiscated pets? This seems like something the Humane Society or ASPCA should be helping with.
But the pet was not the last thing on the little boys mind. It was probably all he had left. If he was boarding a bus wasn't it for evacuation? There should have been some way of dealing with it at the shelter they were going to. I vote for letting him keep it.
I seriously doubt there were very many dogs at the Superdome, and I'm virtually positive that no large dangerous ones have been allowed to stay there. This little boy was a few feet and a couple of hours from feeling like everything had turned out okay, and that he had saved his beloved dog from this huge disaster. Now he's devastated and hates the world. One or two little cats and dogs on each bus would have done no harm at all. These people have all been wallowing in human waste for days, a couple of poops and pees on the bus floor just doesn't matter. Even if the little boy couldn't keep the dog after reaching Houston, he could be assured it was safe -- no matter how young he is, he knows better about what will happen to any living thing left behind in New Orleans.
Sorry, didn't know the rules here. I am just disgusted with some of this stuff. I do think it is great they got some help, and don't misunderstand, I am very much distressed for the victims.
Uh - maybe they should have evacuated before the storm hit? When the mayor sent his family out on Friday, wasn't that a clue?
So what?!
How many managed to even hang on to their pets?
Of all the coverage I have seen on TV, and its been extensive, I haven't seen one person with a dog
This kid doesn't have one thing to his name anymore except a little dog named Snowball, let him keep him
I hope the HS is taking care of pets like this and maybe by the grace of God this poor little kid can be reunited with his dog
I'm having trouble believing that anyone in New Orleans is in a position to care for pets. They're having trouble keeping people alive. The SPCA evacuated the inhabitants of their New Orleans area shelters before the storm hit, and I expect most SPCA staffers evacuated themselves at the same time. I hope to God that SOMEBODY is taking care of that little dog, and will eventually be able to return it to the little boy or at least let him know the dog is okay. But I really doubt it. I can hope, though -- there must have been a lot of really pissed off adults who witnessed this scene, and not all of them boarding buses right away . . . And just imagine how all the people felt, riding on that bus with this wailing devastated little boy, who didn't have to be devastated. I expect they'd all have preferred a few doggy poops and pees on the bus.
Hey, I don't make the rules. I was stating what the policy would be. Go to my page and view my kids. The reason they won't let the alleged snowball on is because they make one exception they have to let them all on. Context.
I agree, I hope someone is taking care of the dog and maybe they can be reunited.
I hope I wake up in the morning to news that somebody quietly snuck Snowball onto a subsequent bus and into the Astrodome. Or that an angry mob simply overpowered police who were trying to stop them from doing that.
Exactly!! This wasn't an invitation to a garden party. This was a come here and take your chances or take your chances at home and possibly die event.
Why isn't there some feeling of relief among these people that they're alive!! All I seem to hear is how there were no hot meals and how the government let them down!
It was easier for us to help the tsunami victims because the city and state Govts weren't involved , and it was a military operation. - Tom
I heard the Texas SPCA is setting up a temporary shelter somewhere north of NO. Not sure if they are on site yet.
There has been so much bad news this week, I would love to wake up in the morning and hear something like that. BTW I guess I qualify as a dog lover, I have four toy Poodles a Terrier and a german Shepherd. This story brought tears to my eyes.
Thanks, that's good news.
My opinion exactly!
Or that an angry mob simply overpowered police who were trying to stop them from doing that.
Don't you think there is enough of that going on? You want to shoot a cop because he won't let a dog evacuate on a bus? You are also pointing a gun at the chopper trying to evac infants to other hospitals. Save the seat for a person, not a dog. Be gone, you troll.
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